Modern transmissions include clutch assemblies to control the relative speed of the vehicle wheels relative to engine speed. These clutch assemblies include rotating parts that alternate between engaged and disengaged positions. During clutch engagement clutch parts can vibrate with respect to the main transmission shaft. Such vibration can cause unwanted noise that is commonly referred to as “squawk.” Many existing transmissions seek to reduce squawk by improving transmission lubrication or using electromechanical shift control (or e-shift). It is more effective however to add mass to one or more components of the clutch assembly in order to alter the clutch assembly mode of vibration during engagement.
There is a U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,095 titled “Clutch Assembly with Vibration Damper” that discloses the use of a damper ring that couples to a friction surface on a clutch hub to reduce self-excitation of the clutch assembly. This arrangement, however, is less efficient than the teachings in the current disclosure because it requires mass be added around an entire circumference of the clutch hub; and the connection between the clutch hub and damper ring requires friction coupling which also results in unneeded energy loss during engagement.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a more efficient manner of reducing squawk in the vehicle transmission. As disclosed herein, it would be beneficial to use other types of mass dampers on a clutch hub, e.g., as taught with respect to vehicle braking assemblies in U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/417,603 titled “Vehicle Braking Assembly.”